Criminals 'laughing' at community sentences which have failed to cut prison population

Criminals given community punishments instead of jail terms are 'laughing their heads off' at their soft punishments, a report warned today.

Ministers have claimed that 'tough' community orders introduced in 2005 are a serious alternative to prison - and not simply a cheap way of attempting to ease prison overcrowding.

But researchers found offenders were 'relieved' to be let off with community punishments, while probation staff complained that criminals 'give two fingers to the Probation Service'.

Drink-drive: George Michael leaves Brent Magistrates after being served with a two-year driving ban and sentenced to 100 hours unpaid community service

The courts frequently fail to punish those who breach their community orders or suspended sentence orders by locking them up - undermining the credibility of the punishments and eroding their deterrent effect.

The study, by academics at the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies at King's College, London, raises questions over the Government's approach to punishing criminals.

Ministers have repeatedly urged the courts to make more

use of community sentences against medium-level criminals such as burglars, drug dealers and muggers, instead of handing out short jail terms.

But the report claims the community punishment system has 'largely failed'. Almost half of all orders are breached, figures show.

Community orders and suspended sentence orders were introduced four years ago by the then Home Secretary Charles Clarke. They replaced a previous regime of non-custodial sentences.

They offered magistrates and judges a flexible way to punish criminals outside prison.The orders can include unpaid work, night-time curfews, drug rehabilitation and reporting to probation staff for up to three years.

But one probation officer said those breaching the orders rarely got a tough punishment and 'that gives completely the wrong message'.

He added: 'You go to court for a breach and you don't get sent to prison [...] and all your mates tell everybody else about it. It doesn't have the deterrent effect that it's meant to have.'

Another officer complained that offenders were 'coming out of magistrates court and they're laughing their heads off and giving like two fingers to the Probation Service. What does that do for us as a service?'

A third officer said: 'In terms of enforcement, people can go back to court three, four times now and the courts are still not

taking on board that this person will not comply, and they just keep asking for more reports.'

The officer said it was ridiculous 'to call something a suspended sentence order when actually it isn't suspended - because you can have two or three chances'.

The study was based on analysis of Government statistics about the use of the orders and interviews with 25 probation staff and 16 criminals subject to them. It highlighted a big growth in the use of suspended sentence orders. They rose more than twenty-fold from the second quarter of 2005 to the second quarter of 2008 - up from 484 to almost 11,842.

The use of community orders rose more than threefold from 9,547 to 33,672.

But there was little evidence that they had any success in curbing the rising prison population, the report said.

Shadow Justice Secretary Dominic Grieve said: 'This report is a damning indictment of the Government's approach to criminal justice: too many laws, not enough prison places and community sentences that are laughed off by offenders.

'Without putting in place the supervision required, offenders don't get the rehabilitation they need and the public is not properly protected.'

Justice Minister David Hanson said: 'The Government continues to take a rigorous approach to sentencing for breach of a community order.

'We have already strengthened measures on compliance and enforcement and are clear that courts must hold offenders to account in all cases where they do not comply with their order.'

Share or comment on this article:

Criminals 'laughing' at community sentences which have failed to cut prison population